I've done it a thousand times; eat like a health warrior all week long and when the weekend rolls around I splurge on eating and drinking. I virtually erase all the good deeds I've done through the week with the diet damage I do in just two days. Beer. Wine. Beer and Wine. Perhaps a Martini mixed in for good measure? Ugh! Monday morning rolls around and I avoid the scales like the plague. Not to mention, I'm so bloated I could easily substitute for one of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade floats. (Preferably Snoopy, cause he's my fav)
Does my diet merry-go-round sound familiar to you?
Let's take a hard look at what we are drinking. How can we keep the fitness train from derailing every-single-weekend? Fact is, you can nosh on your little 100 calorie packs all week long, but you can easily make up for every calorie sacrificed with just a couple of sinful cocktails.
Do you know how many calories are in your favorites? Here's list of some common drinks:
Pina Colada (6 oz): 378 calories
Mojito (8 oz): 214
Cosmopolitan (4 oz): 200
Margarita (8 oz): 280
Green apple martini: 148
Martini (2.5 oz): 160
Bloody Mary (5 oz): 118
Red wine (5 oz):120
White wine (5 oz): 120
Beer (12 oz): 150-198
Light beer (12 oz): 95-136
Ultra-light beer (12 oz): 64-95
Champagne (5oz): 106-120
Wine spritzer (5 oz): 100
Vodka and tonic (8 oz): 200
Screwdriver (8 oz): 190
Mimosa (4 oz): 75
Gin and tonic (7 oz): 200
Long Island iced tea (8 oz): 780
White Russian (2 oz vodka, 1.5 oz coffee liqueur, 1.5 oz cream): 425
Rum and Coke (8 oz): 185
Rum and Diet Coke (8 oz): 100
One Long Island Ice Tea has about the same amount of calories as one BIG MAC?! Yikes!
So what's a social drinker to do? Don't panic just yet. I've found a couple of tips online to help us make smarter picks.
1. Alternate alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks to save calories. The savvy dieter finishes one cocktail, glass of wine or beer, then has a "mocktail" -- a nonalcoholic, preferably zero-calorie beverage (like sparkling water with a lime) that looks like the real thing. This strategy not only reduces the risk of over-consuming calories and alcohol, but it also helps you stay hydrated so your head will thank you in the morning!
2. Choose wine, light beer, or simple cocktails made with low-calorie mixers. Just as you might order your salad with dressing on the side, don't be shy about asking for your cocktail your way. You can save 100 calories if you have a diet soda as your mixer. Mix cocktails with water, club soda, low calorie juices, artificial sweeteners or sugar-free syrups for easy calorie savings. Fruit and vegetable juices can be good choices because they are lower in calories than some other mixers and also contain disease-preventing antioxidants.
Some mixers that won't pack on the pounds include:
- Diet soda or diet tonic: 0 calories
- Orange juice (6 oz): 84 calories
- Cranberry juice cocktail (8 oz): 136 calories
- Light orange juice (8 oz): 50 calories
- Light cranberry juice (8 oz): 40 calories
- Light lemonade (8 oz): 5 calories
- Coffee, tea: 0 calories
- Baja Bob's sugar-free margarita or sweet 'n' sour mix: 0 calories
- Lemon or lime juice (1/2 oz): 10 calories
- DaVinci or Torani's sugar-free syrups: 0
4. Dilute your drink. Another option is diluting your drink with club soda or sparkling water. Wine spritzers are a low-calorie standby. And if you usually drink vodka and cranberry, for example, try it with club soda, just a splash of cranberry juice, and a squeeze of lime.
(Tips found on WebMD)
In addition to these tips, there is also an emerging trend of liquor companies trying to reduce their calorie counts per glass or mix liquors with something better for you. For example, Bacardi has a new pre-mixed Pina Colada that is mixed with Coconut Water. (Coconut water is nature's Gatorade, full of electrolytes and potassium. It's the ulimate mixed signal for a body. A dehydrator in the liquor, and a hydrator in the coconut water.)
Bethenny Frankle has also started bottling her Skinny Girl line of pre-mixed drinks. Prior to the bottled Skinny Girl Margarita, I had heard a thousand different versions of a "skinny margarita" circulating around friends. The true Skinny Girl has only Tequila, Orange Liquor, and Lime Juice. All other's take on this mixture you've heard might be as good, but also might have more than just 100 caloires that the orginal version boasts.
Keep in mind, that as with anything, even this skinny margaritas are about moderation. Yes, you are saving 40-50 calories a serving size, but that doesn't make it okay to partake in 2/3's of the whole bottle.
After all this preaching, I'll sit my soap box aside to give you a couple solutions. (About time, right?)
I love Truvia. I use it instead of aspartame products because its a natural low calorie sweeter with none of those scary side effects. Truvia has a great drink menu on their website for a lot of great tasting, lower calorie drinks.
I've personally had the Raspberry Lojito; it is fabulous!
http://www.truvia.com/recipes/beverages/default.aspx
Last but not least, the original Skinny Girl herself has several low-cal recipes on posted on her site. You can find the original Skinny Girl Margarita here also.
http://www.bethenny.com/food/recipes/drinks/
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